Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

Andrew "The Annihilator" Ngai  is an actuary by day, but he has just returned from Las Vegas where he was competing in the Microsoft Excel World Championships. He has already won the title three times, but will he win again? 

Guest: Andrew Ngai, Actuary and Excel World Champion

When an Airbus A320 made a dramatic altitude drop recently, Airbus grounded more than 6,000 planes to fix a software error that made aircraft computers vulnerable to cosmic radiation. So how exactly does radiation from deep space affect technology on earth, and should we be concerned?

Guest: Michael Wheatland, cosmic astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at University of Sydney

This week's tweeter is the Sahul Sunbird - and we also accepted its former name of Olive-backed Sunbird.

It's the only Sunbird found in Australia - pale yellow below and dusky brown above. And like its relatives, its equipped with a long downcurved bill, which is great for plucking insects or collecting nectar!

And the winner is: 

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees came to Australia in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Many of them are now facing their fourth Christmas in Australia and are conflicted about where they now call home. Svitlana and her son Max have made a new life in Adelaide where Max is attending university when he is not training to represent Australia in Canoe Sprint.

Guests: Svitlana and Maksym Gandziuk

Click here to find out more about the organisation that provides support to Ukrainian refugees in South Australia

100 word including guest & book

Evan Ratcliff's podcast Shell Game has returned for a second season that rivals the first for it's unsettling but comic exploration of AI. This time Evan creates the a one-human start-up run largely by AI agents.

Guest: Evan Ratliff, tech journalist and creator of the podcast Shell Game, and the one-human startup HurumoAI.

Season 1 of Shell Game is available on the ABC Listen App.

On August 14th 2003, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1500, establishing the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government. After 22 years, that mission is set to end on the 31st of December, and will leave behind a very different nation. 

It feels like compassion is dwindling in the current political climate. Can compassion be mobilised again? Or is the age of humanitarianism over? Michael Barnett is in Australia for the Annual Emma Hutchison Memorial Lecture at the University of Queensland

Guest: Michael Barnett, University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the George Washington University

Katrina Watts left for Japan with the intention of staying two years. 25 years later she was still embedded in Japan, not only in language and culture but also as a popular commentator, on tv and in the stadium, for Japanese Sumo. 1990 was the year that she made the transition from a sumo fan to a prized member of the sumo community. 

Guest: Katrina Watts, Executive Board Member of the International Sumo Federation and Past President of the Australian Sumo Federation.

This week's mystery caller is Australia's only cuckoo that builds its own nest – the Pheasant Coucal.